Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers

A couple of weeks ago I went to my first meeting with the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. This is something I’ve been meaning to do since moving to Bristol. It only took a year! I put all the meetings in my diary in January, but have had something come up every single month for that Saturday since. Even this month I had three other events I was supposed to be doing – but nothing was going to win, because I was Determined to go.

Stunning sample dyed using madder root at the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.
Stunning sample dyed using madder root, shown at the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers.

I managed to vlog parts of the day that didn’t involve other people, which has a lot more information about the talk than I’m about to give you. Find it here.

Guilds

I’ve encountered guilds in many different ways and places. When I was in Melbourne a couple of years ago, the only place I could get fibre from for spinning was the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria. John and I went on a guild trip to Wonderwool Wales with a friend a few years ago. The British Polymer Clay Guild display had some of the most mind-blowing polymer clay samples I’ve ever seen at the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show. One of my goals for the year was to join my local one.

Before I tell you about the Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, I wanted to discuss what a guild is first. If you search “What is a guild” on Google, you get the below definition:

A medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.

Obviously we are no longer living in medieval times, so this is a little out of date. However, this is how they got started, and the root purpose is still the same. Guilds exist all over the world for craftsmen of all ilks, and are organisations for people to gather and work towards a common goal. This often takes the form of education nowadays, with members of different guilds all over going to events to spread the news about their craft. They also host educational talks at meetings, which happen on a regular basis. That was the theme behind this month’s meeting at the Avon Guild.

Beetroot is not a great dye stuff! From a talk by Teresinha Roberts of Wild Colours
Beetroot is not a great dye stuff! From a talk by Teresinha Roberts of Wild Colours.

Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers

When I went to Wonderwool Wales with Ricky, you’ll probably remember that I bought a new spinning wheel. The main reason for doing this was so I could take my spinning with me when I go places. I did this particularly with joining the guild in mind! The Ashford Traditional is lovely, but not easy to transport.

My new Kiwi 2 went in the car so easily that I basically popped it in, put seat-belts around it (safety first!) and set off. Monthly meetings take place in Long Ashton, a village just outside Bristol. The guild hires a hall in a community centre where they have a storage space for the guild library, a kitchen for tea and coffee, and a space to hold the meeting itself. I didn’t take any photos of the hall as I didn’t have permission from the people there, so you’ll have to use your imaginations.

My Kiwi spinning wheel is nice and easy to transport!
My Kiwi spinning wheel is nice and easy to transport!

As well as the guild library, people bring in items to sell including fibre they grow from their own sheep, equipment, even homemade jams. I was feeling very anxious about meeting so many new people.Everyone was very welcoming and I saw it through despite the anxiety! I had a great time sitting and chatting to some incredibly interesting people for the first couple of hours. Then it was time for the talk.

Allotment to dye for

The guild meeting was themed around a talk by Teresinha Roberts from Wild Colours. The talk was titled “Allotment to dye for”. Teresinha told us all about how she got an allotment, started growing stuff and got into dyeing. She’s a very interesting person with a fascinating background, with a great textile heritage. Read more here.

Tereshina was a great speaker. The talk was really well organised, starting with Dyson coloured fabric, moving around a table showing naturally dyed samples from yellows to reds to blues, through plants found in Britain to more exotic things including cochineal beetles. There were samples of all the plants, plus swatches showing the colours. There were so many little titbits of information along the way, from adding chalk to woad, to using madder. For the first time ever I didn’t have my notebook on me, d’oh! We had the opportunity to buy seeds to grow these plants. I declined this because John is going to be very angry if I bring any more plants home. One day…

Dyeing with dock root. I adore this and am going to go hunting for dock shortly.
Dyeing with dock root. I adore this colour and am going to go hunting for dock shortly.
Seeds for sale, be still my beating heart.
Seeds for sale, be still my beating heart.

I was very keen to learn more about mordanting, and she answered all my questions perfectly! One of the best things about the talk was how relaxed, friendly and open she was. People attending were interested as well, which makes such a huge difference. I left feeling incredibly inspired, while also knowing I just don’t have the resources to get into yet another type of making…yet!

PHD project

There’s a lot more information about the actual talk in the vlog mentioned at the top. I’m really glad I went to the meeting, and will definitely be going again. One of the things they do is a competition for PHDs – projects half done! I have to take a photo of my PHD, send it in, then display my progress at a meeting later in the year. I’ve gone for my brown alpaca, which I plan to make a jumper from. Watch this space!

A basket full of alpaca fibre to turn into a jumper.
A basket full of alpaca fibre to turn into a jumper.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day with the Avon Guild, and recommend you find your local one if you can!

Much love,

Corrie xx

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One Response to Avon Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers

  1. Julie says:

    Sounds so interesting, good luck with the PHD!!!

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